Daniel 9:5
We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments: We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments:
Daniel's words confess a fourfold guilt of sin, wrongdoing, wickedness and rebellion by turning away from God's commands, laws and judgments and refusing to listen to His prophetic servants. He prayed them in the first year of Darius the Mede after learning from the books and Jeremiah's word that the seventy years of Jerusalem's ruin were nearly complete. Though greatly beloved and faithful even at the king's table and in the lions' den, he made the people's failure his own without pleading his integrity or claiming sinlessness. He sought the Lord with fasting, sackcloth, ashes, tears and contrition for pardon and the restoration of the city and holy mountain, and before he finished heaven answered by sending Gabriel with understanding of the seventy weeks and Messiah the Prince. So the prayer stands as the pattern God's people are to make their own together, humbling themselves, admitting departure from His commands, and seeking cleansing and the Spirit's power in preparation for Christ's coming.
Words and Historical Setting
The prayer belongs to the first year of Darius the Median ruler, after understanding gained by books, by the word of the Lord to Jeremiah, that seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem were to be accomplished and were near their end. It came after the vision of the evening and the morning which was told is true and was to be shut up for many days, at which there was fainting and sickness for certain days, then rising to do the king's business, astonished at the vision with none understanding it. The judgments witnessed in San Francisco and many places stand as a warning opening what was seen in vision would be, with great things before the living who shall see those judgments to the end.
The verse sets out sin, iniquity, wickedness, and rebellion as departing from God's precepts and judgments, turning away from His commands, judgments, law, and word. That departure included not hearkening to His servants the prophets. All Israel had transgressed the law, and that transgression brought upon them the curse and the oath written in the law of Moses after God permitted idolatrous nations to humble them. Their misfortunes made Jerusalem and the people a reproach, for they had lost their distinct, holy character as God's chosen people. The desolate sanctuary could be restored only as they repented, became humble, and returned to faithful obedience.
Daniel confessed Israel's shared guilt and the people's sin as his own, humbly including himself with those who had fallen short of God's purpose and done wrong in exile. He acknowledged that they had acted wickedly and rebelled by turning from God's commands and judgments.
Prayer and Heaven's Answer
Daniel set his face to seek the Lord by prayer and supplication with fasting and sackcloth and ashes, with affliction of soul and tears. His confession was made with deep sorrow and contrition of soul as he witnessed the desolation of Jerusalem. That humbling of himself belonged to his earnest prayer of confession and humiliation, in which he included himself with his people rather than claiming to be sinless.
His intercession laid hold of the throne of infinite power, pleading earnestly for the people he loved. He pleaded for pardon and for the restoration of Jerusalem, His holy mountain and city called by His name, beseeching God to turn away His anger and fury and to preserve His honor. He presented his supplications not for human righteousness but by God's righteousness and great mercies, coming before Him as a sinner even after long service.
The prayer was earnest and complete, humble and sincere and contrite, offered from unfeigned lips. It was personal communion with trust and unceasing asking for enlightenment and understanding of truth, in which the believer wrestles with God in faith. Prompted by the Holy Spirit, it was marked by humility, contrition, and earnestness, and it illustrates the humility of recognizing transgression and longing to acknowledge the truth. Such contrite seeking draws the one who prays nearer to God, and it helps keep believers from foolish speech.
The prayer was not in vain, for all heaven was interested in the supplication. Before it was finished Gabriel was sent to give skill and understanding, and ministering angels brought communication from God in vision. God hears those who seek Him with all their hearts and answers their petitions, and those who ask in faith may receive wisdom and salvation. He who heard Daniel will hear others who approach Him as Daniel did, for He is willing to help those who come to Him.
Prophecy and Scripture Links
The chapter in which the confession stands supplies the key by which the commencement and the termination of the 2300 days are ascertained. It has an unmistakable connection with Daniel 8. In answer to that prayer Gabriel was sent to declare that seventy weeks were determined upon the people and upon the holy city, reaching to the coming of Messiah the Prince. Mercy thus took rebellious Israel back into favor, providing for the building of a second temple and giving Jerusalem another probation.
Humility and True Confession
Even one greatly beloved of God, long in His service and given great skill and learning, humbles himself and joins himself with his people in confessing sin, iniquity, wickedness and rebellion as departure from God's precepts and judgments and from His word. He comes before God as a sinner pleading for the people he loves, with humility, contrition and earnestness, modeling the confessing of mistakes and errors and repenting before God rather than claiming personal sinlessness. His open naming of iniquity, wickedness, rebellion and departure teaches that denial and excuse have no place before the Lord.
Though faithful at the king's table and maintaining integrity when cast into the den of lions, he does not plead his faithfulness, deny or excuse sin, or claim to be sinless or without sin. When fasting and the angel comes he falls prostrate with shamefacedness beholding purity and excellency, praying Hear O Lord and deliver, saying we have departed from Thy word and have sinned. His prayer thus confesses his own sin along with the people's, acknowledging they have acted wickedly and rebelled by turning from God's commands and judgments, and models the confession needed for forgiveness and cleansing. Refusal to so acknowledge sin, by stubbornly denying it, leaves one uncleansed from unrighteousness unless the attitude is changed.
Closeness to Christ produces humility and confession, not boasts of holiness. Drawing near to God leaves the beholder without strength and with comeliness turned to corruption until strengthened. The nearer people come to perfection of character, the less worthy and righteous they see themselves, so nearness to God leads to humility rather than boasting.
True confession is earnest seeking of God by prayer and supplication with fasting, sackcloth and ashes, and such intensity and earnestness draws the confessor nearer and still nearer to God with assurance that God hears and will answer. Even simple, broken petitions that unload a burdened mind and cast a helpless soul upon Christ bring peace with God. It acknowledges sin rather than stubbornly denying it, admits departure from God's precepts, judgments and commandments, humbles oneself, and models confessing mistakes and errors and repenting while pleading for help, forgiveness, pardon, cleansing and protection. Prayer after this pattern includes confessing sin and seeking pardon, calls God's people to examine their experience before Him and to cease living falsely by departing from His commandments in daily life, and those who so confess are alert to danger from the enemy and depend on God's protection.
In Babylon he humbled himself before God and gave God the glory due His name. That humility never obliterates the line of demarcation between God's commandment-keeping people and those who have no respect for His law.
Present Corporate Application
Daniel 9:3-19 is a prayer for God's people to offer together and make their own when self-confidence and presumption prevail among them, assembling together, repenting before God, humbling themselves so He may lift them up, expelling pride, self-esteem and stubbornness of soul in view of what redemption cost at the cross, and continuing in prayer until the Lord manifests Himself with power. Its confession of sin, iniquity, wickedness and rebellion by departing from God's precepts and judgments belongs to earnest seeking that draws the confessor nearer to God with wrestling faith prompted for enlightenment and understanding. Such corporate humbling holds a true sense of human value as God estimates it by the infinite price paid for redemption.
It applies where light has been sent but the testimonies of His Spirit have not been heeded, where there has been departure from His expressed commands and working contrary to His messages about the work. It applies where facilities have been selfishly gathered to a few favored places, and where the needs of people in large cities and in the Southern field have been greatly neglected. Its practice by those who claim to believe the truth, including Seventh-day Adventists who have not heeded the light given them or practiced the truth, brings reform of those wrongs.
It is held up as a prayer for seeking the Holy Spirit's work, asking the Spirit to work in behalf of believers. Its humility belongs with valuing life and abilities, capabilities and talents as gifts entrusted by God and the Lord's precious endowment to use for His glory and to His name's glory. It seeks every advantage in the strife for immortality and eternal life, making every gift a treasure of influence to reach perfection and completeness in Jesus Christ.
Confession is part of preparation for Christ's coming: believers should admit their sins and ask forgiveness without shame. Those who refuse to confess and remain boastful, stubbornly denying, and unrepentant will not be cleansed from unrighteousness unless they change, closing the way to the Holy City. Acknowledging sin rather than stubbornly denying it admits departure from God's precepts, judgments and commandments.
The prayer calls God's people to examine their experience before Him, identifying departure from God's commandments in daily life as sin, with those who profess to follow God but depart from His commandments in daily life living falsely. Those who confess as Daniel did are alert to their danger from the enemy and depend on God's protection. Such wrestling prayer in faith helps keep believers from foolish speech.
His prayer is to be read as the pattern for one reproved for departing from the faith, calling him to make a change and humble his heart in confession in the same way, though Daniel was a man greatly beloved who long served God. Finding pardon as Daniel did means living wholly for God's glory in faithfulness and truth, keeping God's commandments as the only safety from the enemy's malignant devices. It means not sleeping but staying keenly alive to exposure to evil angels and to the conflict between good and evil and between loyal and disloyal angels, and being guarded and protected by good angels and heavenly intelligences. It means being prepared to stand in lot and place, awake and ready for the last great controversy and for the Lord's coming, praying as never before and making thorough work for eternity, with ministers pressing home the truth of the ministration of angels and the written Word as the only safety against fanciful speculations.